Windows XP: A Brief Retrospective

The end-of-support date for Windows XP has been no secret, and the build-up to it has been long. But with the date now upon us, we’re being hit with a big dose of nostalgia, thinking back to all that the OS has brought us. The best thing about nostalgia is sharing it, so read on for a brief retrospective of Microsoft’s legendary OS.

The time has come: Microsoft is retiring the much-beloved Windows XP. First expected to die in April of 2009, the Redmond firm gave in to intense pressure from the public to extend its support. With its revised date-of-death being today, Windows XP’s run lasted a staggering 4,548 days.

To add some perspective to that figure, a span of 2,096 days saw the release of Windows Vista, Windows 7, and finally, Windows 8. A total of 2,526 days (as of the time of writing) have passed since the release of Vista (January 30, 2007).

When Windows XP was released to the public on October 25, 2001, I’m sure no one at Microsoft could have guessed that the OS would still have a strong following 12 years on. Yet, it’s still used by 27.69% of Web surfers, according to Net Applications’ March 2014 report.

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